Smartphone Industry In US Q3 2014: Apple, Android And Facebook Retain Their Lead Position

Managing to defend its throne as the world’s best global brand, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gave the other contenders namely International Business Machine Corp (NASDAQ:IBM), Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) a run for their money. Despite tremendous increase in their brand valuation, none of the OEMs could match up to the reigning mogul. Over the years, Apple has become a brand people recognize with and it has become synonymous with sophistication and security.

Recent studies by comScore reflect the stronghold of Apple in US compared to other OEMs and the trend continues as the latest figures on Top Smartphone OEMs in US Q3 2014 and Top Smartphone Platforms in US Q3 2014 bring not much change. Apple ranked at the top in the smartphone manufacturers. Google Android clinched the title against iOS as the most prevalent platforms used in smartphones in US, reported comScore. And Facebook maintained its number one spot amongst the most popular apps according to the report.

Apple and Samsung battling head to head, others still grapple to retain foothold:

Compared to the previous quarter ending in the month of June when the last report was published by comScore, the smartphone penetration has gone up by 1% in the successive quarter ending in September. This brings the smartphone adoption tally to a total of 72% in the US. And Apple occupies a lion share of 41.7% as the top smartphone manufacturer in Q3 2014. Among the other OEMs, only Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KRX:005930) managed to nail a significant share of the market. LG Electronics Inc. (KRX:066570) witnessed a gain of 0.5 percentage points in the concerned duration, which seems in tune with its revived performance in the global market. The Korean electronics giant shipped a record of 16.8 million smartphones in Q3 2014 registering a 39% year-on-year growth. Motorola and HTC seemed to be struggling in retaining their grip as both the OEMs suffered losses of 0.5 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

Apple and Samsung to be taking each other by the horns, as the former lost a share of 0.4 percent point to the later, probably owing to the success of their flagship device Galaxy S5. But more startling figures might come into view when the sales figures for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are accounted in the months to come.

Android once again shines through in the smartphone platform race:

Android remains the unbeaten champion among the smartphone platforms with a share of 52.1%. Though the combined surge of Microsoft (0.2% point rise, net market share standing at 3.6%) and Android market seems to be nibbling at Apple, the magnanimity of Apple in US can’t be denied as iOS follows Android close on heels with a market fragment of 41.7%. Blackberry continues to take the downfall as it suffers a decrease of 0.1 percent point in its market share, bringing the overall tally for the company at 2.3%. The seemingly obsolete Symbian OS witnessed a surge of 0.1 percent point.

Once again, it’s Apple and Samsung fighting for their pride on the US soil. But the picture might change drastically as both the companies have tightened the belts and geared up to the floor that audiences with world class devices. With iPhone 6 Plus while Apple aims to attract the large screen lovers, Samsung has come up with Galaxy Note 4 to steal the limelight. Both the giants have packed performance under the hood and how well the devices fare against each other is still to be seen.

Facebook retains top spot Google Plus totters down:

The mobile app zone also seems to be dominated by Facebook yet again in the US, though its market share reduced by 0.4 percent points from the previous quarter, occupying 72% of the total app audience. Google apps turn out to be most popular among the various audiences with as many as 6 Google apps featuring among the top 15 apps. But all the apps have taken a downfall in the audience reach. Comparing the previous figures with latest ones one can get a clear picture.

Though the rankings essentially remain the same, except for Google + which tumbled down to 15th position from 13th, but the audience reach seems to be dwindling for YouTube (51.5% from 54.95), Google Play (51.1% from 51.2%), Google Maps (44.1% from 46.2%)and Gmail(42.0% to 40.4%). Only for Google Search an increase in popularity has been accounted which surged from 47.2% to 47.3% in the concerned duration.